Combination fringe handling device



4 l/ I 1 \1 4H. J v I C C Q 6 c W 4 C i 6 4 i Feb. 7, 1939. E w. POWELL COMBINATION FRINGE HANDLING DEVICE Filed Dec. 6, 19s? Patented Feb. 7, 1939 UNITED f-STATES PATENT OFFICE COM-amass FmNGnnANnLI NG DEVICE V V Earl W. Powell, StfLoui'sfMo. I 'Application December 6, 1937, Serial No. 178,309.

' 50min (Cl.;.1l.2'-'-'-'- 136)' This invention relates to certain new and'useful improvements in combination fringe handling devices, the peculiarities of which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

'The main object of my device is to provide an attachment to a sewing 'machine to facilitate handling fringe being sewed upon curtains, drapes, and similar material. It is particularly adapted to ball fringe and similar fringe having a side edge that-is decorated or provided with projecting ornaments such as applied to Mexican hats, which are liable to tangle and to get in the way of the needle of the sewing machine when the tape forming the body of such a fringe is being sewed to the curtain, drape, or other article.

The main object of my invention is to provide such an attachment that will guide the fringe to the needles of the sewing machine, avoid tangling of the ornaments on the edge of the fringe, and dispose the body tape in position for being sewed to the curtains or similar articles, and to guide the balls or similar'ornaments of said tape so that they will not interfere with sewing the tape body as it passes under the presser foot of the sewing machine. Other objects will appear hereinafter;

In the accompanying drawing in which like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts,

Fig. 1, represents a face view of my attachment above-mentioned;

Fig. 2, an edge view of the same, partly broken away to show the retaining spring for the tape;

Fig. .3, a bottom view of Fig. 1, showing the slotted guide and a curved piece forming a castoff deflector for'the balls of aball fringe to dispose them away from the. needle of the sewing machine; I 1 f Fig. 4, a face view of the lower portion of Fig. 1, showing a ball fringe disposed in thefslotted guid and indicating the way the balls are cast off from the tape when they reach the bottom of the guide;

and

Fig. 5, a portion of the sewing machine head and a side view'of my device attached thereto, showing in broken lines a ball fringe being guided into position for sewing it to a curtain or other material.

, Referring to the drawing, the numeral l representing the head of a suitable sewing machine having the usual needle or pair of needles for sewing the tape body 2 of a fringe as it passes under the presser foot 3 by the pull of the usual feeder device 4 in the face plate of the machine.

A bracket 5 or other suitable means supports a slotted guide 6 so that its lower end is disposed adjacent and in front of the presser foot as shown in Fig.5. This guide consists of a strip of sheet metal bent up and over at its side edges like a flattened tube so asto form an enclosing guide having an open slot 1 between the bent over side edges l l and I2 for'the passage of the connecting portions of the ball fringe as the tape body descends through the hollow guide under the pull of the feeding device of the sewing machine The slot is preferably located substantially in the center of the face to shorten the free portion ofthe ball connections; but may be otherwise. The bottom end of the guidehas a bead 6', or is otherwise rounded on the back wall portion, to facilitate drawing the tape body outof the guide while sewing it on the curtain as indicated at 2 and 2' in Fig. 5.

' .To the upper end of said guide is soldered or otherwise secured to the inner face of H, one of theibent over side edges, a flat spring 8 which is spaced away from the back of the guide near the top to allow the tape to pass between the spring and the back of the guide when the fringe enters the guide at the top. The lower end of this spring is-free and is pressed towards the back of the guide so as to act with slight pressure upon the tape. passing downward in the guide behind the spring, and thus slightly tension its downward movement towards the bottom of the guide.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the upper end of said spring is secured to H, one of the bent over side edges of the guide, and the opposite edge of the spring is spaced away from the opposite bent-over edge I2 of the guide so'as to divert the balls to one side of the guide and allow the string connections of the balls to pass downward in the guide as A flat piece of sheet metal 9 having a downwardly inclined upper edge, is soldered or otherwise secured at one side edge II] to the outside of the bent lip H of the guide to which the said spring 8 is secured at its upper end. Said plate 9 extends over, and is spaced away from, the opposite side edge I2 as shown in Fig. 3, to allow the passage of the string connections of the ball fringe'downward to the end of the guide, while the balls themselves are deflected outward, or cast off away from the body tape as shown in Fig. 4. The balls are thus disposed away from the needles when sewing the body tape to the curtain or other article.

This slotted guide is preferably disposed vertically in its operative position when attached to the head of the sewing machine. The body tape passes into the upper end of the slotted guide behind said spring 8; the upper end of the spring, and also the upper end of the bent over side edge I2 of the guide that is opposite that to which the spring is attached, are curved downward toward each other forming a notch 13 to facilitate the entrance and passage of the string connections downward in the guide.

To the upper end of said guide is attached a curved sheet metal plate 18, which is curved backward as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and is likewise slanted downward at one end towards the space at the outer edge of said spring 8, in.

which the string connections of the balls travel downward. The slant of said curved piece [8 thus deflects the balls to one side as the tape passes over and downward into the guide, so that the balls are disposed along the adjacent side edge of the guide as indicated in Fig. 4.

The supply of this fringe is from a reel, or is loosely arranged in a box or other receptacle below the upper end of the guide, and is drawn up over the curved plate l8, and the balls disposed at one side of the guide as stated, while the tape passes downward in the guide. The balls at the end of their string connections with the tape thus tend to hang away from the guide so that they are disposed uniformly along one side edge of the slot, and lessen any liability to become tangled as the tape passes from the slanting plate l8 into the upper end of the guide. Thus it will be seen that my attachment to a sewing machine facilitates the handling of ball fringe or similar fringe having an ornamental edge, and guides said fringe from its reel or source of supply to a point adjacent in front of the presser foot and the needle or needles sewing the tape to the curtain or drape; and

that the balls are deflected to one side of the needles while such sewing is being done by the machine.

In practical use this device has demonstrated its advantage. When applying such fringe by hand, trimming fifty curtains per day was a fair days work; yet it was found possible to apply the same amount of fringe in one hour by the use of my device above described.

This attachment is applicable to any sewing machine.

I claim:

1. A fringe handling device comprising a sheet metal strip having bent-over side edges forming a flattened tubular guide having a longitudinal slot for the tape body and ornamental edge respectively of the fringe, a flat spring secured by one side edge near one end to said guide and having its opposite edge spaced from the adjacent portion of the guide, and a flat plate having a downwardly inclined upper edge and secured by one side edge to one side edge of the guide near the bottom end, and spaced away from the opposite side edge to deflect the. ornamental fringe as it passes said plate, substantially as described.

2. A fringe handling device comprising a fiat metal strip having bent-over side edges forming a flattened tube having a slot in its face throughout its length, a flat spring secured toone side edge near the top, and extending downward and toward the opposite side edge leaving a space at the side edge of the spring for passage of the ornamental edge of the fringe while the body portion passes downward behind said spring, and a curved plate attached to the upper end of. the guide and bent over backward and slanted downward toward the side of the guide that provides said passage. for the ornamental portion of the fringe, said upper curved plate deflecting the ornamental edge of the passing fringe to one side of the guide by the slant of said plate, substantially as described.

3. A fringe handling device for ball fringe consisting of a body tape and balls attached to its side edge by string connections, and comprising a. flat metal strip having its side edges bent over toward each other and spaced from the back wall. forming a slotted guide for the tape body, a flat spring secured by one end to the underside of one bent over side edge and having its opposite edge spaced away from the adjacent bent-over side edge of the guide leaving a space to allow passage of the said string connections, means at one end of said guide to dispose the balls towards one side of the guide, and means at the other end of said guide to deflect said balls as the body tape passes off the end of the. guide, substantially as described.

4. A fringe handling device for ball fringe, comprising a sheet metal strip having bent-over side edges spaced from the back of the strip and from each other forming a slot throughout its length, means to support said guide substantially vertical upon a sewing machine head and locate the lower end adjacent the needles, said strip forming a guide for the tape body of a ball fringe passing through said guide while the ornamental ball edge connected to said body passes outside the guide, means to direct the balls of said fringe to one side of the guide when the tape body enters the guide, and means at the bottom of said guide to deflect the balls of said ornamental edge to one side of the guide and of the adjacent needles'in said machine.

5. A fringe handling device having, in combination, a flattened, tubular guide for ball fringe, said guide having an open slot throughout its front face, a flat spring mounted by one side edge at the top in the upper end of said guide and spaced free from the opposite side and back wall, the top of said spring and also the upper front portion of the guide being inclined downward toward each other forming a notch for guiding the string connections of the ball fringe towards the free edge of said spring.

EARL W. POWELL. 

